Early news articles show the president as E Jewell Clark and chief engr as Anthony Stadlman. First effort was an "improved" Curtiss Hydro Biplane with OX-5 engines (note plural) as a luxury pleasure transport. Also produced was at least one Military Training Tractor with OX-5, convertable for land or sea. No data was found of either of these.

Michigan Aircraft 1 aka Breese-Dallas X 1933 = 5pClwM; 450hp P&W Wasp C [X12899] c/n 1. A very involved, albeit relatively short, career began with its registration application on 2/13/33 by Breese & Dallas (pres: Vance Breese, secy: Charles Dallas, chief engr: W A Mankey) at the French Rd address; lien was held by Marion M Dallas at Dallas Motor Sales Inc ("New and Used Automobiles and Airplanes"), 8865 Mack Ave, Detroit. In a letter to CAA 6/7/33, Mankey said the plane was Michigan Co Aircraft Model 1. On 3/15/34 it was sold to Select Motor Sales, 3946 Woodward Ave, Detroit, at which Charles Dallas reappeared as secertary-treasurer in applying for an NX license 6/4/34 "for running further testing." On 10/24/34 it was sold to Lambert Aircraft Co at Robertson MO, and was to be known as Lambert Model 1344 with a 500hp P&W Wasp. However, it was to be bought back by Select Motors, but Lambert's Tom Towle said in a letter to CAA 1/28/35, "Deal never consummated." Wait, we're not done yetthe story continues at the Breese-Dallas entry.

Milford

Military Aircraft HM-1 SEE Hawks HM-1

Mill Basin

Mill Basin Aircraft Corp, Brooklyn NY.

INFORMATION NEEDED

Super Gull W-1 1929 = OBFb; Wright J-5. No other data than it was displayed at the 1929 New York Aviation Show. [X440] c/n 5. Accident report of 2/27/29 shows a "J-5 Super Gull" piloted by a William Adcock crash from a "stall after take-off, possibly due to water in hull." Was the "W-1" for a Walden design? SEE Walden-Markey.

Miller

Miller

INFORMATION NEEDED

1927: Miller Aircraft Co, Wichita KS.

1927 = No data located on one plane reportedly built.

Miller Lizette SEE Ludington

Miller

A K Miller, Montclair NJ.

1928 = Miller was registered in 1936 as owner of a 1p "Fokker Experimental" monoplane with 90hp Brownback Tiger, [7283] c/n 1300, which makes it the enigmatic 1928 Fokker 13. Miller at the time also had a Heath Parasol, Simplex Red Arrow, Aeromarine Klemm L-26B, and Fairchild KR-32  was he a collector, a builder, a flight instructor, a dealer, or employed by Fokker?

M-6 Twin c.1957 = 3pChwM; two 65hp Lycoming O-145-B2. A much-modified Piper J-5 Cruiser with engines mounted on the wing leading edges. Fuselage nose was fitted with a streamlined fairing and ends of the wings squared. [N9074C].

Mills

Frank Mills, South Beach, Staten Island NY.

c.1915 = Several biplanes are known to have been built by Mills around this time, with one report that "his planes flew nicely," but lack documentation or description. He died in the crash of the Christmas prototype when its wings failed in flight-testing on 12/30/18 (?>1/14/19).

Mississippi State University

MSU XAZ-1 [62-12147] (MSU via Jos Heyman)AZ-1 aka MA-18B Marvelette 1962 = 1pChwM; 90hp Continental C-90-12F pusher; span: 26'2" length: 28'5" v: 125; ff: 11/16/62. Research aircraft to study the aspects of boundary layer control by means of a variable-camber fiberglass wing incorporating a perforated surface and suction pumps. Program managed by MSU, the aircraft was modified from an Anderson Greenwood AG-14 by Parsons Corp (Traverse City MI), but was completed at MSU after a fire destroyed the Parsons plant. POP: 1 as XAZ-1 [62-12147], contracted by the Army, made 16 flights until 1964, then was scrapped. MSU's research program continued with XV-11A.There is no evidence to suggest that the aircraft received a post-Sept 1962 designation in the tri-service designation system, and until 1990 the usual reference sources have omitted this designation. ( Jos Heyman 11/12/01)

MSU XV-11A [N2768Q] (MSU)MSU XV-11A in 1990 [N2768Q] (M Heyman)V-11, V-11A Marvel 1965 = STOL experiments. 2pChwM; 317hp Allison T63-A pusher; span: 26'3" length: 23'4" load: 662# v: 225/184/x range: 265 ceiling: 15,000'. One of the first all-fiberglass aircraft. Shrouded, tail-mounted prop; perforated wing surfaces for continued experiments in variable-camber and boundary-layer control technologies came with an Army contract in 1965 as Parsons XV-11A [65-13070] (contractor Parsons Corp). Tandem wheels in small pontoons were later used for amphibious experiments. Returned to MSU in 1969, it was extensively modified in 1982 using new composite materials, registered as [N2768Q].

X-30 (Convair) c.1985 - Hypersonic test vehicle for National AeroSpace Plane (NASP) project was canceled after a 50-ft mock-up was built by engineering students of the college. Competing for the potential contract were Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and Rockwell Intl.

M I T SEE Massachusetts

Mitchell

Charles R Mitchell, San Diego CA.

INFORMATION NEEDED

1911 = No data found for this US patent #1,005,272 of 10/10/11 for a "hydro-aeroplane."

Mitchell

Mitchell Aircraft Corp, Porterville CA.

Mitchell Howard U-2 [N8020S] (Mitchell)Howard U-2 1980 = 1pCmwM ultralight flying wing; rear-mounted 20hp Honda pusher engine (later McCulloch O-100); span: 34'0"; v: 95. Gross wt: 430#; bubble canopy. Designed by old-time traditional glider designer Don Mitchell as one of the few successful flying wings built for private use [N8020] c/n M-101. E T Wooldridge described: "It featured unique 'handling stabilators' which provided both lateral and pitch control. Shaped like upside-down airfoils, the control surfaces were attached below the trailing edge of the wing. There they acted as separate aerodynamic surfaces, rather than as hinged portions of the wing itself, providing exceptional stability and control." U-2 was preceded by several flying-wing hang gliders with the pilot suspended below the wing; some were motorized, such as a B-10 sold in kit form.

Mitchell

Mizar SEE A V E

Mix

Arthur "Bert" Mix, Chicago IL.

Mix Flying Arrow 1920 (Aviation via Joe Martin)Mix Flying Arrow Modified nose; 1924 (Dan Shumaker coll)Flying Arrow 1920 = 1pOB; 15.2hp Indian (also 18hp Harley-Davidson); span: 12'0" v: 75. Gross wt: 360#. A straight reduction in linear dimensions from a "grown-up" airplane resulted in this diminutive home-built at a time when there was little knowledge about the relativity of wing spans to climbing power. Aspect ratio was understandably small with 84-sqft wings; tails were made from single sheets of plywood. Entered in 1924 Dayton Air Races, identified as Hummer, but did not compete.

Mize

Cecil I Mize, Anchorage AK.

c.1930 = Pietenpol Air Camper with Velie engine. [12733] c/n 1.This was the first aircraft built in Alaska. ( John M Jarratt 9/13/01)

Mohlar

W H Mohlar/Seattle Aeromotive Corp, Seattle WA.

HM-4 1930 = 6pCM; Wright J-6 or P&W Wasp; span: 42'0" length: 27'5". No other data, but a squib in 2/8/30 Aviation said work had begun on a plane in which "Capt Mohlar would make his Seattle-Tokyo flight" [NX214M]  apparently never finished. This must be the same fellow connected with the enigmatic Liberty Bell, same designer (also seen as M A Mohar), similar model designation, but a different type in a different state two years later... the plot thickens.Info found as "being built for a Seattle-Tokyo flight as of 8/9/29;" applications for both Hornet and Wright. It seems it was never completed, as was usual for Mr Mohlar. Reg cancelled 11/1/30. ( John M Jarratt 7/20/02)

Mohr

Moinicken

Chris Moinicken, Webster and Aberdeen SD.

1924 = 3pOB; 150hp Wright-Hisso A, later replaced by 140hp Sturtevant V-8 with two radiators; span: 32'0" length: 24'6". Sturdy two-bay biplane, a heavily-modified Curtiss JN-4, built for banker Chester J Wage [2618] c/n 5 and sold to him on 9/10/24. Described in one account as "a very promising design with brilliant performance." Purchased 4/16/28 by Ole Fahlin and Axel "Ruff" Swanson for use as a Midwest barnstormer, but sold instead to Albert Schramm on 4/23/28 (for a quick $300 profit!); next to Dan Carver on 8/11/28. Dismantled and reg cancelled 5/28/30.

Moles & Kerr

Howard R Moles & Jhn A Kerr, Kenmore NY.

1931 = 2pOM; Curtiss K-6. POP: 1 [781Y] c/n 1.

Moller

M-150 Skycar 1997 = 1p VTOL with 65hp Wankel-type rotary; width: 8'0" length: 12'0" load: 290# v: 375/335/0 range: (gasoline) 450 (gasohol) 675. Using a principle similar to that of the British Harrier jump-jet, the Moller "volantor" incorporated a patented (1992) thrust-deflection vane system that redirected thrust, enabling it to hover or to take-off and land vertically from most any surface. Engine wt: about 45#. POP: 1 prototype.

XM-3 1968 - 2p evolution of XM-2 with eight McCullough go-kart motors. Acquired sponsorship from University of CA at Davis in 1966; first patent #3,410,507 on 11/12/68. First flight in ground-effect only, 1968.

Mong

Ralph E Mong, Tulsa OK.

Mong Mongster at Reno [N33Z] (Jim Larsen)Mongster 197? = 1pOB racer. No data.Mongster was a highly-modified Mong Sport. Tom Aberly and Dallas Christian built two similar planes for RenoTom's was Race #25 Two Bits. This pic is before I owned the Christian plane, which I raced at Reno from '80 to '82. It was sold to Mick Richardson in Tucson, who raced it for one year then sold it to someone in San Jose. As of now, I don't believe it has flown since. ( Dave Morss 1/5/04)

Montagne

William Montagne, San Ramon CA.

Mach Buster 1988 = 2pChwM; 2100hp pusher Oldsmobile; span: 14'4" length: 34'0" v (est): 950. Gross wt: 2,500#. Of all optimists in aviation history, Montagne must be one of the most prominent. A pure amateur, he designed and partly built a prop-driven airplane meant to be the first to exceed the speed of sound, powered by a drag-racer engine modified by Montagne himself. The 80% finished airframe was exhibited at Oshkosh in 1988, but its creator ran out of money and it was offered at an auction in 1990. No buyer, however, was attracted by this golden opportunity.

Montee

Ken Montee and passenger in Standard J-1 (TYKnL coll)Montee Unidentified model (Paul Cheseborough)
1921-1926 = No accurate record was kept of Montee's production, but he is one of aviation's unheralded geniuses, responsible for the design and construction of perhaps a dozen successful competition and commercial planes, as well as many innovative modifications of surplus aircraft (eg: hwM conversion of Curtiss JN-4 with Fokker C-4 wing). With a father, who learned to fly at age 60, and two brothers he performed in their aerial exhibition group, "The Los Angeles Flying Circus," competed in national air races, flew for motion pictures, was a flying instructor for Cecil B deMille's Mercury Airlines, and kept current in the Army Reserve as a pilot. His death from scarlet fever in Dec 1926 at age 29 makes one wonder how famous he might have become. [3345, 5782, et al].

1921 = 1pOmwM racer; inline engine.

Dragonfly c.1924 = 2pOmwM; 90hp Curtiss OX-5. Used in local competitions. Developed from Montee's earlier single-place model, of which there are photos showing several variations in wings and empennage as a continuing design experiment, possibly representing several aircraft.

Montgomery

John J Montgomery, Santa Clara CA.

Montgomery (flyingmachines.org)Double Monoplane 1905 = 1pOmwM; 6hp ??; span: 26'0" v: 30+. Professor Montgomery's foray into powered flight was a powered version of his ingenious balloon-launched glider, a craft designed on scientific aeronautical principles more than any other aircraft of the time (1906 US patent #831,173); ff, as a glider: 4/29/05 (p: Daniel Maloney). Montgomery's experiments with gliders began in 1884 and he held the little-known honor of designing and flying the first controllable, manned glidernearly two decades before the Wrights.This was actually a tandem-wing craft and was conceived of in 1895, first experimented with in small scale in 1896, eventually experimented in full scale in 1904 and on numerous occasions throughout 1905 and 1906. Based on various newspaper accounts, eyewitnesses, and various articles in Scientific American, Motor Magazine, and Popular Mechanics of 1905, the craft demonstrated repeatedly a very high degree of controllability and balance throughout. ( Craig S Harwood, Montgomery Family Historian 6/29/04)

Montgomery

Spider Flying Machine 1910 - no data found.During 1910, just seven years after the invention of the airplane by the Wright brothers, Sam Montgomery of Stockton was selling stock and promoting his "helicopter-like" Spider Flying Machine. ( Roy Mize 7/24/04)

Montijo

SEE ALSO Belmont, Glenmont

John G Montijo, 2322 Elm St, Long Beach CA.

1924 = 2pCB; Hall-Scott L-6. Rebuilt at Bert Kinner's Glendale hangar by Montijo, Lloyd Royer, and Ben Barton with parts from an Italian Ballila and the Dayton-Wright OW-1 (Orville Wright's converted DH-4). Sold to a local car dealer, who kept it at Long Beach airport until in disappeared in the fog of time.

Morse

Allen Morse, 3337 Pincrest Rd, Indianapolis IN.

1935 = 2pOB; Wright J-6. Aluminum monocoque fuselage, fabric-covered wings. Reportedly was in use as a cropduster in Florida as late as the 1960s. Little else was found about two creations of Morse, who also worked for Granville Bros on the Gee Bees.

Comet 1925 = 1pOhwM; Comet engine(?).

Mortensen SEE Rutan

Morton

Morton Brothers Airplanes, Omaha and McCook NB.

Morton Nightingale [4621]Nightingale c.1927 = 2pCB; 90hp Curtiss OX-5. POP: 2 [4621, 6668]. A ChwM version was reportely built in the late 1930s. Two biplanes appearing in registers as McCook Commercial were most likely from the Mortons, operating as McCook Aircraft Corp, and the entry that follows sounds like a later related operation. The brothers would, however, become better known for their manufacture of the classic, five-cylinder radial Morton M-5 model aircraft engine.

Motor Products

Location unknown.

SX-6 1918 = 1pOM; 150hp Hisso A. William B Stout. POP: 1.

Moundsville

1927: Moundsville Airplane Corp, Moundsville WV.

Moundsville Lone Eagle [X6770] (Tom Heitzman coll)Lone Eagle X2LC 1928 = 2-3pOB; 55hp Michigan Rover L-236; span: 28'10" length: 21'0" load: 500# v: 100/85/32 range: 500 ceiling: 18,000'. Take-off run: 100', landing run to a stop: 50'. Charles Fasig. $3,000. POP: 3 [X570E, X4186, X6770], the first repowered with 100hp Kinner K-5. Some data show span: 26'9" length: 20'8", perhaps different with each ship, and one or all first had 60hp Chevrolet. [X4186] also shows up as 1927 WAC Special, with a WAC motor and no definition for those initials.
From a news article about Charles Lindbergh's 1928 Goodwill Tour of the USA: ... about Langin Field. "It's a fine field," said the air hero. "I never landed on any field where conditions were so clear and clean as at Moundsville." Lindbergh then took some time to inspect a new airplane, the first produced by the fledgling Moundsville Aircraft Corp., a biplane with a Chevrolet engine. Accompanied by his aides and friends, Donald Keyhoe, Charles Kinkaid, Philip Love and Jimmy Doolittle, Lindy inspected the small ship minutely. He climbed under it, inspected the fuselage, looked over the controls and instrument board, felt the wings and tested their strength. Commenting on the prototype, he said, "The 'Lone Eagle' appears to be a fine little plane and I wish the Moundsville Airplane Corporation success." The tiny plane was dedicated "The Lone Eagle" by James Doolittle, who christened it in Lindbergh's honor by smashing a bottle of water over the nose. "The name is appropriate," said Doolittle, "for as Lindbergh was alone in this great achievement, so this plane is alone in a new field of commercial airplane construction."

Mulder

Muller

Charles E Muller.

1920 = 2pOBF; 47hp Lawrance; span: 26'0" length: 18'5". One of the first lightplanes designed exclusively for the amateur builder. Plans and details were published in Everyday Engineering in 1919-20, but no tally was found of how many, if any, were built by readers.

Mulzer SEE Locomotive

Mummert

Harvey C Mummert, Long Island NY.

Cootie aka Baby Vamp 1921 = 1pOB; 28hp Lawrance; span: 18'0 length: 12'0" load: 250# v: 90/x/45; ff: 7/9/21. Laminated-plywood monocoque fuselage; patterned somewhat after Longren AK. A first experiment by Mummert, at the time an engineer with Curtiss Co, to see just how far the dwarfing process could be carried out before losing performance and speed. Diminutive plane was flight tested by Bert Acosta.

Munsell

Charles W Munsell, Kenosha WI.

1927 = 7pOB; 360hp Wright-Hisso; span: 48'0" length: 26'10". POP: 1, carried 6p in large front cockpit (on a demo flight from Kenosha to Fond du Lac it carried four more people perched on the wings). Sheet steel-covered fuselage. Used for barnstorming throughout the Midwest until c.1935, at which point it was traded for an automobile. SEE ALSO Kiser for a curious interrelation, except in dimensions.

Murphy

Mike Murphy, Kokomo IN.

Over-and-Under 1935 = 1p curiosity; could be a high-wing or a low-wing, depending on which way it was landed, as it sported two sets of landing gear, one set mounted on the underside for inverted landings, often atop a moving automobile rigged with a platform. A creation of exhibition pilot Murphy, it began life in 1935 as Taylor E-2 [NC15354] c/n 264.

Murphy

Cleve Stoskopf, Rancho Palos Verdes CA.

Mouse 1976 = 1pClwM; VW engine; span: 20'0" length: 15'0". Tri--gear.Designer/builder was Cleve Stoskopf, an aircraft engineer at Rockwell, and was so named in his recognition of the inexorability of "Murphy's Law." Construction, completed in 1976, was a sandwich of Fibreglas and urethane foam, expanded in-situ, reinforced by steel-tube structure to aft of the single seat. Pilot was under a closed canopy. First high-speed taxi tests were conducted at Zamperini Field, Torrance CA, and were terminated when the nose gear shimmied and departed its fiberglass strut, allowing the shaft, bouncing along the runway, to collapse upward, piercing the firewallfortunately missing the fuel tankto the irritation of test pilot Raymond "Buck" Buchanan. The craft was later successfully flown at Mojave airport, first by the unflappable Mr Buchanan, then by a succession of competent pilots before being retired. To the best of my knowledge, it still exists, disassembled, at Torrance. ( Jim Strothers 4/10/07)

Murray-Carnes

INFORMATION NEEDED

Murray-Carnes
No information found about this mystery ship or Mr Murray, but a Joseph Carnes (Hillsboro IN) built a lightplane in 1931. However, this ship appears to be more like early '20s, so his involvement is speculation. There's also a somewhat foreign look about it, so we're using a thumb tack to hold this entry in place for now.

Murray-Womack

1929: (Durard) Murray & (Fritz) Womack, Iola KS.

Sport 1929 = 3pOB with 125hp Super Rhône; ff: 7/9/29 (p: F Womack). Durard Murray. POP: 3 [83M, x, 15E] c/n 100/102; IMA registrations cancelled 3/1/39. The first was reportedly rebuilt from the fuselage of a WW1 "fighter" that crashed at an Iola County Fair (a photo of the wreckage shows a Thomas-Morse) with Durard-designed or -scavenged other components. The second ship apparently was never licensed. Also noted in several old registration records as Murray-Yarton ((Durard) Murray & (Russell) Yarton Aircraft Co, Iola KS) but Yarton remains at this time a mystery, and where, how, or even if, he fits into this picture needs to be solved. Suspicion is that he was a vagrant CAA typo that somehow ended up in this record. Documented information was received 4/24/06 from Jeff King, grandson of Fritz Womack, which clarifies and amends much of our basic data.An article in the Iola newspaper tells of Murray and Fritz Womack building a small biplane, referred to as the Womack-Murray, which likely was the first Sport [83M]. The article told of them building two other planes, a monoplane and another Sport (c/n 101?). There was yet another, the Van Camp-Murray Sport [406W] c/n 103 (qv). Murray had worked with Winstead Brothers and, later, with American Eagle Co. ( John M Jarratt 9/19/00)

Musick-Reynolds

Edwin C Musick & Harry Reynolds, Santa Monica CA..

INFORMATION NEEDED

c.1911 = 1pOB; no data. Home-built design that crashed on its first flight, only minor injury to 17-year-old Musick, but the ship was a total wreck. However, it led to a memorable career in aviationMusick went on to become a civil flight instructor with the USAAC and, later, world-record setter and chief pilot of the China Clipper on PanAm's first transpacific flight in 1935.

MWZ

M W Z Aircraft Co, Chicago IL.

W-LB-50 1929 = ChwM; 60hp Detroit Air Cat (LeBlond). [X110N].

Myers

George F Myers, Jackson Heights NY. 1926: Myers Flyers Inc.

Annular c.1927 = Circle-wing concept with two light engines on
outriggers with tractor props that got this tricycle-gear, cart-mounted creation rolling along the ground, as seen on a Discovery tv program, "Strange Planes, Strange Shapes," but vertical conquest, if any, was not mentioned. Three doughnut-shaped wings on top, the fuselage was an open frame with pilot in an open chair up front. An angular rudder at the tail wore its number [691].

Helicopter 1904-26 = Myers filed a patent for a helicopter in 1897, and a prototype was built in 1904, according to the book, Helicopters Before Helicopters. It had three lifting "screws" (3'4" diameter) and two laterally-placed tractor propellers (6'0" diameter), each driven by a two-cylinder enginepossibly those lifting screws were driven by the same engines? The book says nothing about results of tests, but that "several years later it appeared as part of a machine with multiple annular surfaces mounted above the helicopter".

Helicopter 2 19?? = A coaxial-rotor helicopter built around the fuselage of a Thomas-Morse [772]. Two 18' diameter lifting propellers were driven by a 100hp Gnôme. A group of vanes was used for control, located on booms on either side of the fuselage and at the aft end, and two additional vanes were mounted forward of a powerplant in the nose. All those were actuated by the pilot's stick. Construction was supervised by none less than Vincent Burnelli, who also was the pilot. In tests at Curtiss Field, the machine flew a distance of 1000' at a height of about 10 feet, touching the ground at intervals, suggesting inadequate controllability. Helicopters Before Helicopters also has a photowithout further informationof a tilt-wing variant that seemingly proceeded the pure helicopter, and: "Following this effort, Myers dropped his helicopter development to perform services as a patent attorney."

Myers

INFORMATION NEEDED

No data

Midget 1924 = 1pOB; span: 16'0" v: 90. No other data found on this mini-plane with "V" wing atruts and rigid truss bracing.